Mrs. Vella's 1st Grade Super Stars

Dear Parents,
 After giving it some thought and after visiting with Mrs. Slaugh, we decided to create a “New Spelling Homework Form.” From now on, the form that is attached to the High Frequency Spelling Weekly Words list will  only contain a form with information needed to complete this assignment. I hope this simplifies things and helps all of you who preferred  printing a form off to just having your student write them on notebook paper.


Reading for All Learners “Baggie Books” will be coming home with your student tomorrow. I know that for many of the students these books will be very easy to read at first (YES!!!).
The purpose of these books is two fold. First, it is phonics based so students will be learning important phonics skills as they read, and secondly, it has reading comprehension  prompts (at the bottom of some pages) for the parents/teachers/volunteers to follow when reading with each student. 
Please make sure your student has mastered ( 100% NO MISTAKES) the Phonics/Sound page and the New Words Page before going on to read the stories. In order to pass off the book, each student must make less than 4 mistake per book/story.
In the baggie you will find a parent letter, which is yours to keep, in addition to form for you and a volunteer to sign when reading with your student. Please keep the book and book list in your students baggie and backpack at all times except when reading with your student. This list will help us keep track of all our books,  as well as your students progress. If your student needs to keep a book for several days to reach proficiency explications that is perfectly fine just follow the above directions. Once your student’s book has been signed off, it will be replaced with a new book to read. Heheheheh I have a fun little incentive page for each student to color when they pass off each book.

**Remember a set of  these ebooks can be purchased for only $10. As far as I know, it only works on  ipads. See earlier posts for more information. 




Starfall also has a one year subscription for PURCHASE. The purchase allows you to download the application to any of  your electronic devices. I HIGHLY RECOMMENDIT!!! I  have had a couple parents buy it for their student. I am told they are all absolutely loving it. The cost is $35 for 1 year. Check it out at Starfall.com. You may need to copy and post the address into you web browser. Let me know what you think.

Thanks so much for your patience as we try to work through and  improve modes of delivering teaching and learning tools.

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this post about homework, particularly math and language arts homework. I will be sending home all the math and language arts homework I have received to this point on Monday. My hope is that you and your student will take some time to look over what HAS and HAS NOT been turned in. PLEASE set a goal with your student to make sure ALL homework gets turned in from this point on. LOL…I have been telling the kids that coming to school everyday and doing their homework is their job, much like when grown ups go to work and do what each job requires to get paid.  In order for your student to receive the ALL the “PAY DAY”  prizes ALL MATH, LANGUAGE ARTS, SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, etc. INCLUDING READING LOGS MUST BE COMPLETED and TURNED IN ON TIME.  With this in mind, I will briefly review what I am looking for each week especially since we have a couple “new” students .

Math Homework Assignments:  Students do one page/day (5pts/day). They ONLY need to do odds OR evens. Having students work on concepts taught that day provides needed practice. It is also serves as a good reference for parents to see what concepts we are working on in class.

Language Arts Homework Assignments Include Several Components:
Reading: Students need to be reading at least 20 minutes five days/week. Reading must be recorded on their reading log daily/weekly to receive credit (80pts/week).
High Frequency Fluency Timings: This page must be printed off and turned in with the number of words read per minute recorded for credit (20pts/week).
High Frequency Spelling Words and Sentence: ALL SPELLING and REVIEW WORDS as well as the  WEEKLY SENTENCE MUST BE WRITTEN ONCE/DAY! You DO NOT need to print off the form on the blog.
I am perfectly happy to accept spelling work done on notebook paper or papers you have printed out. **With that being said,  again you are free to use the form on the the blog however PLEASE be aware that not all aspects/requirements of homework on this form apply to our class at this time. It is a general form used by some of the other 1st grade teachers. I kept it as I may want to used it at a later date.

Science and Social Studies Homework: Occasionally there may be science and or social studies homework assigned as we explore our community and the world in which we live. The “Phases of the Moon”  is a great example of  a current science assignment . These will always be posted on the blog under the Homework Posts etc.

PLEASE CHECK YOUR STUDENTS GREEN HOMEWORK FOLDER DAILY for any classwork, notes, homework etc.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENT PUTS IT BACK IN HIS/HER BACKPACK so its ready to go in the morning. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me via my school email, text or phone. I will respond as quickly as time permits. I am also available after school Tuesdays from 3:30-4:00. Mornings are particularly busy for me,  as I am making many preparations for the day. For this reason I prefer NOT to meet in the mornings whenever possible.